PHILADELPHIA — Freddy Gaudreau, who played all 82 regular-season games for the Wild last season, will miss at least the three starting Thursday night against the Flyers at Wells Fargo Arena.
Sidelined by an upper body injury, Gaudreau did not travel here with the team and won’t join his teammates for games Friday at Washington and Sunday in New Jersey.
“He’s been dealing with it,” head coach Dean Evason said Thursday.
Gaudreau took a wicked blind check from former teammate Ryan Reaves at Toronto on Oct. 14 and had to compose himself on the ice for several moments — while Reaves and Marcus Foligno traded blows — before he was able to skate off.
Gaudreau was examined after the hit but returned and played 9 minutes, 51 seconds in the Wild’s 7-4 loss. Afterward, he said he had the wind knocked out of him.
He joins a growing list of regulars sidelined by injuries. Defensemen Alex Goligoski (lower body) and Jared Spurgeon (upper body) are on long term injured reserve, and Matt Boldy is skating in Minnesota after suffering an upper body injury late against the Maple Leafs.
Boldy was set to travel with the team Wednesday but held back because the team won’t practice on this trip after taking an optional morning skate on Thursday.
New playmate
With Gaudreau sidelined, the Wild called forward Jujhar Khaira up from Iowa and inserted him on the fourth line with Connor Dewar and Brandon Duhaime for Thursday’s 6:30 puck drop.
Khaira will be the fourth different linemate for the two young forwards the Wild call “the Deweys.” Vinni Lettieri, who played with Dewar and Duhaime in Tuesday’s 7-4 victory over Edmonton, was moved into Gaudreau’s spot on the third line with Marco Rossi and Marcus Foligno.
Pat Maroon started the season with Dewar and Duhaime, and Sammy Walker played one game with them.
A veteran of 336 NHL games, Khaira has played his first minor league games this season since playing 27 games for AHL Bakersfield (Edmonton) in 2016-17. He played two games at center and two at wing at Iowa, leading all skaters with a plus-3 rating. “Obviously, you want to get back as fast as you can, and I can only control what I control, and I thought I did that down there,” Khaira said.
“He’s very versatile. He’s very comfortable. Clearly he’s a pro,” Evason said. “He’s played in the NHL a long time. We’re looking for him to slot right in with his experience, with his size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds), with his speed. Should be a nice fit for us.”
Briefly
Evason said the team is hoping Boldy and Spurgeon can begin practicing with the team when it returns from a 4 p.m. game at New Jersey on Sunday. Spurgeon can’t be activated until a Nov. 4 home game against the New York Rangers, and of the two, Evason said, “Boldy is closer.” … After earning the victory against the Oilers on Tuesday, Filip Gustavsson was given the start against the Flyers. Marc-Andre Fleury is scheduled to start Friday against the Capitals.
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